43

H.—44a

ol distribution. In that case the answer is an unqualified affirmative. Viewed in itsell'Fthe business of distributing ooal brings in a very small return to those, who pursue it in most cases not much more than the current rate of wages for: unskilled work, even if allowance he made for the probability of overestimates of cost in the evidence presented. The, coal-dealing business whieli is, in the case ol household coal, carried on for a part of the year only, is regarded by its owner as a part of his general business—a part which, though it is returning little or no direct profit, may enable him to use a larger plant and to keep down costs relative to turnover in his business as a, whole. In many cases it would appear that the profit is constituted largely of the difference between the allowance for bad debts and the discount in the case of those customers who do not avail themselves of discounts, but pay the gross price within a reasonable time. The. further question as to whether existing conditions and methods are reasonable or not — capable of improvement or not—is of general application to the Dominion, and is dealt with in Chapter VIII. (iii.) DISTBIBUTION AT WELLINGTON. (a.) General. —Wellington draws its supplies of household coal from the West Coast, the Waikato district, and Newcastle. Probably the Westport coal constitutes 80 per cent, of the coal consumed in Wellington households. Up to the winter of 1916 household coal was rescreened in the retailers' yards in Wellington. Since that date the coal has been mine-screened only. The cost of transporting the coal from the mines to the wholesale depot at Wellington for the years 11)1 I -18, and the percentage which that cost is of the retail price at the present time, are shown in the following table : —

Table 43.-Cost of Carriage of Coal to Wellington.

The retail dealer takes delivery of the coal at the wharf or the railway-station, carts it loose to his yard, bags and stores it, and thence delivers it as required to the consumer. In Wellington twenty bags go to the ton. Cartage and delivery costs are heavy, because of the naturally steep and uneven configuration of much of the urban and suburban areas. A man with a dray and two horses delivers from 3| to 4 tons per day within the town area, and 2|- to 3 tons within the suburban area ; but frequently two men are required to deliver a load. There are about thirty traders, nearly all of whom are members of the Wellington Coal-dealers' Association, most of them conducting businesses on a small scale, working themselves and employing on the average another man. Neither the association nor its individual members appear to exercise any trade discrimination against nonmembers. The association fixes the changes in the retail prices of Coal, and this scale of prices is generally followed by the trade, though occasionally higher prices are charged by individual dealers. The regular traders in coal suffer hardly any competition from outside sources —little or none, for example, from carriers, who in some other centres do a not inconsiderable trade in small lots direct from the wholesale depot to the consumer. In Wellington the margin for cartage (ss. (id. per ton ; Is. 9d. per quarter-ton ; 3d. per owt.) appears to be so small between the retail rate and the depot rate as to preclude any profit from such trade. (b.) Prices. —The prices fixed by the association are for cash, booked 2s. extra, and Is. discount il paid by the 20th of the month following purchase. It is estimated that the cash business forms about one-half of the total business, and that the majority of the remainder of the other half is monthly discount business. There are two scales of prices—one for the city and the other for the. suburbs—the latter being, for the greater part of the period under review, 3s. more than the city rate, and recently 4s.- more. Table 44 shows the changes in the retail price of each of the chief household coals at Wellington during the period January, 1914, to January, 1918

Table 44.—Retail Prices of House Coals at Wellington, 1914-18.

Cost of Carriage to Wellington from m-si poll and Grey mouth . . liuitly "ewcastle 1014. s. d. 5 7 12 7 10 0 1 1018. s. d. 9 7 15 3 16 6 ! 1 1 Increase per Cent. 72 21 65 llatio of Cost of Carriage to Retail Price. 1.9 per cent. (Westport coal). 29 per cent. 32 per cent.

( , , 26 Jan., 27 May, uraL I 1914. 1914. I s. d. | s. d. Westport .. .. ; 36 0 All soreened .. .. 30 0 Taupiri . . . . 36 0 ! 40 0 Slack . . .. .. 25 0 Mixed Waikato and other.. Newcastle .. .. 36 0 Puponga All unscreened (Suburbs, 3s. ex State (house) .. .. 33 0 | ••■ I „ (small) .. .. 18 0 ; 7 Peb., 1 July, 1916. 1910. 9 Dec, 25 Jan., 17 July, 13 Juno, Sept., 1916. 1917. 1917. 1918. 1918. s. d. ! s. d. s. d. ! s. d. | s. d. 43 0 .. 50 0 43 0 . . | 46 6 I i. | 52 0 .. 54 0 26 6 .. 32 0 45 0 I 51 0 .. 48 0 52 0 .. i 46 6 52 0 ..I .. 39 0 . extra.) (Suburbs, 4s. e: ! 37 0 .. I 24 0 Increase. 8. d. s. d. 39 0 41 6 39 0 41 6 42 0 45 0 25 0 25 0 Per S. (I. ! Cent, 14 0 , 39 18 0 i 50 16 0 | 44 :tra ; booked, 2s ixtra.) 4 0 12 0 0 33£